The Hidden Shadow
by The Revisionary
Summary: The Pharaoh enters the world of his memories to learn about his lost past. But will he be prepared to face his old enemies and a new threat? Takes place during the Dawn of the Duel arc. Rated T for now. Possible pairing later on. Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Yugioh.


**Ok, so my inner nerd compelled me to do this fanfic, and I can't resist my temptations any longer. This fanfic will stick mostly to the canon storyline, and takes place during the Dawn of the Duel arc. There will be an OC 2nd main antagonist alongside Bandit King Bakura, and some events of the arc will be minorly altered and others majorly altered. Also, I haven't decided if I'll be doing one with this fanfic, nor will I say which character's it'll be, but there might be a pairing.**

 **Quick disclaimer before this begins, I don't own anything related to Yu-gi-oh in any way. Beyond that, please enjoy this.**

 **Oh, by the way. For those of you reading Fox of the North Gate, shortly after I post this fanfiction, I am going to go through and revise some of the chapters. Some of the story will be slightly different because of the revisions, but I feel they will do the story good nonetheless.**

Street lights flickered under an eerie blood moon that illuminated the streets of Domino City. Running through said streets was a young, white-haired boy by the name of Ryou Bakura. At first glance it would appear that he was in a hurry to get somewhere. But if you were to take a closer look at his face, you would see the utter fear displayed upon it. He was running for his life from seemingly nothing. However, it was far from nothing that was chasing him.

He turned to run down an alley, but lost his footing mid-turn. After he hit the ground, he peered over his shoulder to find that nothing was there, but the laughter that followed signified that something was indeed there. Something he couldn't see.

" _And where do you think you're going?"_ a sinister voice asked him in a threatening tone, causing Ryou's eyes to widen. He picked himself up as fast as he could and sprinted down past the alley and into the woods on the other side.

'This can't be happening! Not again!' he thought in a panic. He ran through the woods until he found an old church. Thinking that a holy place would be a sanctuary from the spirit that was tailing him, he ran to the entrance and pushed the doors open. The main hall was completely empty, and void of sound, which put him somewhat at ease.

"I should be safe in here." he said aloud, trying to catch his breath. He began to make his way down the center walkway towards the alter. All of a sudden, every candle in the church lit up, and the evil laughter of the spirit returned, causing Ryou to quiver in fear. "Stop it! Stay away from me!" he yelled defensively.

" _I'm afraid I can't do that. We still have a mission to complete._ " it addressed to him.

"A mission?" he asked, frightened.

" _How soon that you forgot. Allow me to remind you! Does the term 'Millennium Item' sound familiar?_ " it questioned. " _Well you promised to help me obtain all seven of them, and at the moment we only have one. But not to worry, I know where the others are. I just need someone to take me to them; and that's where you come in. After all, you're the vessel that allows me to exist in this world. So stop resisting and join me!_ "

"Never!" he yelled back.

" _What makes you think I'm giving you a choice?_ " the spirit retorted. " _You will help me! And the most powerful force that ever existed will be mine!"_ it preached.

"You can't force me!" he exclaimed.

" _That's where you're wrong,_ _ **mortal**_ _!"_ it's voiced became distorted and demonic. The walls of the church began to rattle and the windows shattered, and the room filled with the spirit's maniacal laughter. A fierce wind swirled around Ryou. His pupils shrunk to dots, and an intense pain surfaced in his head. He gripped it and yelled out in pain. " _I've waited long enough! The darkest Shadow Game in five millennia will now begin!_ " Ryou fell to his knees, still gripping his head from the pain. The sounds of his voice became distorted, as if it was being changed into a completely different tone.

Suddenly, his cries of pain stopped, and the grip he had on his head eased. He rose to his feet and stared off into space. While he seemed to look the same, some of his features made it clear that that wasn't the case. His bangs had been slightly lifted, making them look like reversed horns, and his pupils had become slits. What was once an innocent smile had now become a wicked grin.

"Ah!" he exhaled in comfort. "It feels so good to be back among the living!" He cracked his neck to the right and shadows gathered around him, manifesting a black trench coat. "Now I just have to reacquire the Millennium Ring, and I'll be able to set my plan in motion." He began to walk toward the door to leave the church when he sensed something, causing him to stop.

The room began to fill with shadows not unlike the ones seen in the Shadow Games he had played in the past. The shadows themselves didn't seem to catch his attention, although the place he sensed they were coming from certainly did. 'This darkness… It's so potent… So fierce… It feels almost like _his_!" he thought, somewhat fascinated by it.

The door to the church flew open, and every shadow in the room swirled in a whirlwind near it. They then dispersed, revealing a silver haired man with a golden mask that covered his face from the nose down. He began walking toward _Bakura._ "Do I know you?"

"I've been searching for you for quite some time." the man stated.

Bakura chuckled. "Well that's delightful to know, but you still haven't answered my question. So I'll ask again. Who are you?"

"My name is of little importance," the man began. "as for who I am, I am someone like you. Someone who seeks the Pharaoh's destruction. I've sought you out to join forces with you."

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "And why would a common stranger want to help me? Even if I do decide to accept your help, what's in it for me?" he questioned.

"Well my dear Bandit King," this caught Bakura's full attention. "In order to achieve my goal, I need the Dark One resurrected. So helping you is in my best interest. When the Pharaoh enters the world of his memories, and you begin your little Shadow Game, I'll make acquiring the Millennium Items much less difficult for you."

Bakura couldn't believe what he was hearing. This man knew who he was, knew about the Dark One, knew about the Pharaoh's memory world and the Shadow Game he was planning, yet he had never seen him in the past before.

"I must say I'm rather impressed. You're well informed. I'll accept your help, but there's something I must ask you: why would you even want to help me to begin with? What is it that you're after?" he asked.

"Nothing that would interest or should worry you. All you need to know is that I need the Dark One resurrected to achieve it" he responded.

While he would've pushed further, the look in the man's eyes made it abundantly clear to Bakura that it was pointless to do so. He would put the thought aside… for now, anyway. "Very well, then." Bakura made for the exit to the church. "There are some preparations I need to make before we can move forward with the Ultimate Shadow Game. Get whatever you need to and meet me in Egypt in two days time. If you're as informed as I assume you are, you'll know where to go."

"Understood. Do what you need to. If I'm late, go on without me, I'll catch up. I need to make a stop by that ridiculous Duel Academy before I do anything. There are some Ka sealed under that place I need to reclaim." he said without looking and fading into darkness, disappearing from the church.

'What an interesting fellow.' Bakura thought. 'Perhaps he will be of use to me after all.'

 **=Muto Residence=**

Thunder roared through the night, casting an ominous light on the home of Yugi Muto. While he was sound asleep, others weren't. Speaking of others, there were two who were scaling the side of the house up to Yugi's bedroom window. The night sky showed them only to be shadows being cast on the glass, but a flash of lightning revealed them to be Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood. Why they were trying to get into Yugi's house is anyone's guess; but knowing those two, it's pretty obvious what they were after.

They shattered the window, waking Yugi instantly. He turned around to see the two of them lifting a bag that contained the Egyptian God Cards and the Millennium Items out of the window.

"Hey!" he yelled.

"Let's go! He's awake." Rex said.

"Run for it!" Weevil yelled.

"Stop!" Yugi shouted to them. They slid down the ladder they used to get to his window and kicked it down so he couldn't follow them. "Come back!" he ran out of his room in pursuit of them.

 **=Alleyway=**

Rex and Weevil had stopped in an alley, both figuring that they had lost Yugi. They were panting heavily, but were smiling, satisfied that they had gotten what they came for.

"That was a joke!" Rex taunted.

Weevil kept snickering as he lowered the bag to the ground and began to unzip it. "I've gotta have a look at these!" Rex leaned in to see, but both were shocked to find that the bag's contents were not what they expected. They weren't cards, but rather strange golden items, all with the same symbol in the center of them.

"These aren't god cards!" As he said this, one of the items began to glow and slowly levitate itself out of the bag. It stopped in the air between them for a brief moment before zipping down the alley into the hand of a shaded figure in a black trench coat. The figure gave off an evil chuckle.

"Who's there?" Weevil snarled.

The figure chuckled. "It hasn't been _that_ long, has it?" Lightning flashed to reveal the man to be Bakura, giving them a look that would chill anyone who knew what they were dealing with to the bone. Rex and Weevil, however, were completely oblivious to this.

"Hey, I know you! You used to tag along with Yugi, right?" Weevil said.

"Listen pal, you'd better not be after those God cards." Rex threatened.

Bakura put the ring on a rope and fastened it around his neck. "I already have what I need thanks to you fools." The ring glowed blindingly and illuminated the entire alley. All that was heard throughout the streets nearby was the high-pitched screams of Rex and Weevil. Something that didn't go unnoticed to Yugi, who was nearby still looking for those two.

"What was that?" He turned into a dark alley to find the unconscious bodies of the two that robbed him, as well as a silver-haired figure standing over them. "Who are you? What did you do to them?" The figure slowly began to turn around, and Yugi's eyes widened as he recognized the face. "Bakura? Is that you?"

He cackled at Yugi's question. "Guess again." He replied sinisterly. Yugi recognized the voice as not the soft and gentle one of his friend, but the sharper and spiteful voice of the evil spirit that possessed him.

He clenched his fist. "What did you do to them?!" Bakura simply kept grinning at him wickedly. "Answer me!" Yugi yelled.

Bakura wasn't phased in the slightest, but finally spoke. "These two delinquents received exactly what they deserved, Yugi. They took possession of something that didn't belong to them, so I sent their souls to the Shadow Realm." He turned to Rex and kicked his body. "And I'd say the punishment fit the crime." He cackled.

Yugi's eyes widened visibly. "You sent them to the Shadow Realm?!"

Bakura pointed at him almost accusingly. "You should be showing a little more gratitude. After all…" he threw a duffle bag in Yugi's direction. "I've returned your belongings." Yugi unzipped the bag to find all the Millennium Items and the golden sarcophagus containing the God cards. "Well, most of them."

Yugi's head whipped up with a dirty look on his face. "What's that mean?" He asked angrily.

Bakura held up the Millennium Ring that had been fastened around his neck. "Take a look. There was one item in your bag of tricks that I'm not quite ready to part with. After all, it did belong to me at one time."

"Give it back! The Millennium Items belong together!" Yugi demanded.

"Eventually they will be. In the meantime, why don't you concentrate on gathering the other items instead of pestering me? And when the time is right, I'll give you the Millennium Ring. We may not be fond of each other but we do share a common goal. We both want all seven items returned to their resting place. United once again within the Millennium Stone, just as they were so long ago."

"I don't trust you! And I never will!" Yugi retorted. "I'm gathering the Millennium Items so I can help the Pharaoh save the world from destruction."

Bakura chuckled at his response. "And I gather you think I have a different goal in mind?" His face went from his normal evil smile to an angry look. "Believe whatever you wish, but remember I know things about the past that your Pharaoh friend seems to have forgotten."

"And what kind of things are those?"

"I know that when the seven Millennium Items are returned to the stone, a doorway to the Spirit World will open." He explained.

"The Spirit World?" Yugi looked down at his puzzle. 'If that exists it could be where the spirit of the Pharaoh belongs.' he thought. "Are you saying that when this doorway opens the Pharaoh will be set free?"

"You're catching on. So do that you want to help your friend? After all, his spirit has been trapped in that puzzle for over five thousand years."

"Of course I do!" The puzzle glowed brightly causing Yugi's muscle build to increase a size as well as make three lightning bolt shaped strands of hair emerge from his bangs.

"That's enough! Stop poisoning Yugi's mind!" The Pharaoh demanded.

"Ah Pharaoh. To what do I owe this honor? Did you come to bury the hatchet so we can join forces?" Bakura taunted.

The Pharaoh raised his fist to him threateningly. "You know better than that!" He retorted.

"I know why you hate me. It's because when you get right down to it, we're more alike than you care to admit. Isn't that right, Pharaoh?" He taunted again, infuriating the Pharaoh even more.

"We are nothing alike!" He exclaimed.

"We're both five thousand year old spirits, aren't we? Each one inhabiting the body of an innocent civilian. The only difference is that I remember my past. All your mind contains is an endless labyrinth of questions. Your whole life is nothing more than a puzzle rapped in a game. And I happen to know the solution. It's quite ironic actually." The Pharaoh raised an eyebrow at his inquiry. "The only way to solve that game is by playing a game."

"I don't know if you speak the truth… but I'll do whatever I have to. Game or not, I will unlock my mind." He stated with determination.

"Well then best of luck. You're going to need it when the Ultimate Shadow Game begins." Bakura said cryptically before turning to leave. "Enjoy your travels, Pharaoh." He then walked out of the alley. 'That encounter went exactly as planned.' He looked in the direction of Kaiba Corp HQ. 'Now onto phase two.' As he made his way down the street, one other thought passed through his head. 'I wonder how my new ally is doing.'

 **=In a forest near Duel Academy=**

Zane Truesdale was alone, staring at the night sky. He had grown bored of beating duelist after duelist with his new underworld deck, and was considering giving up on the Academy as a whole. 'No one can even give me half a challenge around here other than Atticus and Jaden. I thought Shepherd said I'd find plenty of people who would be worth my while, not just those two.' He felt a sharp pain in his and instinctively clutched it. The pain quickly subsided though. 'All that time of underground dueling finally takes its toll on me and I only just got the other half of my inheritance? Talk about bad luck.' He sighed heavily. 'I wonder how long I have before-' He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt the ground beneath rumble. He looked to the right of the school to see eight brown spires emerge. Zane's eyes widened in horror as he recognized what this meant. 'Not good!' he took off sprinting in the direction of the spires.

 **=At the spires=**

Bakura's silver haired ally stood in front of the pedestal that housed the three Sacred Beasts. "I don't know where they excavated the tablets from, but they should've hidden these a little better once they learned that they couldn't control their power." He picked up the three cards and the pedestal and spires reverted back underground. "Now that I have these three again, I can complete the ritual when the time is right." He made to leave but was stopped by Zane, who was standing in his way. He may have considered this a minor inconvenience, but sensed something about Zane that brightened his day to no end. 'This presence… It would seem I don't have to hunt for my former Ka anymore.'

"Return the Sacred Beasts to their resting place or I'll force you to." He threatened.

"Oh, you mean these?" He held the cards up and they began to glow and turn into a glittering dust. The dust then swirled into a strange symbol that was in the palm of a golden gauntlet that the man wore. "Seeing as how I was the one who originally commanded these beasts, I won't surrender what belongs to me. Anyway, I hope you haven't grown too fond of those Cyber Legacy monsters I left behind, because I'll be ridding you of them very shortly."

Zane was baffled by what he just said. "What do you mean, 'that you left behind'?"

"Exactly what it sounds like you fool. The cards in your deck were originally stone tablets that housed the monsters from a world known as the Cyber Dimension. From what I sense, you possess both the Cyber Overworld and the Cyber Underworld halves of those monsters." The man explained. Zane was more than just a little shocked that this man knew so much about the monsters in his deck. "I must say though, I am rather impressed. While anyone can wield the monsters from the Cyber Overworld, to wield those from the Underworld is a feat in and of itself considering the curse I left on them."

Zane raised an eyebrow. "Curse?" He asked.

"Those who wield the Underworld monsters other than myself will have their bodies eaten away at until they eventually die. I'm sure you've noticed it. The heart pains, for example?"

Zane's eyes widened. He looked at his deck horrifically. 'So that's why Shepherd wanted to keep me from getting it! He was protecting me!'

"I think I've said enough. I'll be taking back my creatures now."

Zane shook himself from his state of horror and retained his calmness. "They might be killing me, but that doesn't mean I'll hand them over to willingly. I'll destroy them before I give them to you."

"Such foolishness." The man raised his hand and the symbol in the palm of his gauntlet began to glow again. Like the Sacred Beast cards, Zane's Cyber cards also turned into a golden dust that swirled into the gauntlet. "I wasn't giving you a choice in the matter. Now stand aside unless you'd like to lose your soul next." The man warned. Zane didn't budge. Instead he just stood there with a determined look on his face. "Very well then. Enjoy the Shadow Realm." He lifted his hand again and the symbol on his gauntlet glowed once more. Zane felt all the light within him get sucked out before he lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground. The man looked over him with indifference before making to leave the area.

"I have all that I need to resurrect _him_ now. Now I just need to get to Egypt." Shadows swirled around him and he vanished into thin air.

 **=Kaiba Corp HQ=**

Bakura had lured Kaiba to the rooftop of his company's Headquarters and engaged him in a duel. Despite being at a minor disadvantage for the majority of the duel, he finally managed to put himself in a position to defeat Kaiba's dragon.

"Say farewell to your Blue Eyes! Diabound, destroy him now!" At his command, Bakura's creature shot a blast of energy that destroyed the white dragon and removed three hundred of Kaiba's life points.

Kaiba wasn't phased by this though. "Sorry, but no dice. I activate Monster Reborn! Blue Eyes is back!" He declared as his dragon reappeared.

Bakura simply grinned in satisfaction. 'Oh if only he knew what my Diabound has just accomplished. By destroying his Blue Eyes, it was able to absorb and duplicate it's attack power. I'd say mission accomplished.' A gleam of sunlight shined through the darkness of their Shadow Game, causing Bakura to look somewhat upset. "Oh well, I guess you're in luck. You see, Kaiba, I have some other business to attend to."

"You're joking! You're leaving in the middle of a duel?!" He exclaimed, completely outraged.

"Trust me, I'll return soon enough to finish what I've started." He reached inside his trench coat. "In the meantime, take this." He tossed Kaiba a small golden ball with a strange symbol on it. Kaiba caught it and gave it a close look, immediately recognizing it.

"Hold on, didn't this belong to Pegasus?" He asked.

"Why yes. I believe he once used it to capture your soul." Kaiba did recall this eye knocking him out cold with one look in duelist kingdom.

"The Millennium Eye…" he said, mostly to himself.

"Excellent memory, Kaiba. It's a wonder you don't remember anything about your ancient past. I'll tell you what, bring the Millennium Eye to Egypt, and I'll give you a little history lesson." He offered.

"Sorry, but I don't have time to travel halfway around the world. I have a company to run, remember?" Kaiba countered.

"So you're not interested in learning why you share such a strong bond with your Blue Eyes?" Bakura asked.

Kaiba looked to his dragon behind him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"The answer lies in the sands of Egypt… Seto." Bakura began to laugh maniacally as his Diabound threw an orb of light onto the platform they were on, blinding Kaiba. When the light faded, he was nowhere to be seen.

Kaiba looked to the golden eyeball in his hand. "Like I'm going to Egypt because some lunatic told me to."

 **=Chapter end=**

 **OK, I think that's a good place to stop. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I know most of this was straight from the anime, but that should change by the time we get into Atem's memory world. Anyway, please fav, follow, and review, and until next time, have a good day!**


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